Between social integration, incorporation and exclusion: Perceptions of Eritrean forced migrants and Israeli professionals

Abstract This research focuses on various social integration patterns, as perceived by both Eritrean asylum seekers and professionals from NGOs and the Tel Aviv municipality who assist them. The study explores various theoretical concepts such as social exclusion, adaptation, incorporation, and integration in the context of migrants' interaction with the host society. These concepts traditionally suggest a linear progression; however, our findings indicate a more complex and dynamic social process. This is exemplified by the “differential exclusion model”: Namely, a situation where immigrants are incorporated into specific sectors of society but are excluded from others. Employing a qualitative research approach, the study involved semi‐structured interviews with 10 Eritrean asylum seekers and 11 Israeli professionals. The main findings indicate that due to help from professionals who work with them and other Israeli friends or employers, the Eritreans' sense of belonging‐feeling “at home,” is rather strong. However, Eritrean social networks appear to be quite loose and weak, and the strength of their community seems to have lost its leaders to other host countries, according to both Eritrean and professional perceptions. Although Tel Aviv serves as a partial resettlement “world city,” maintaining the differential exclusion model policy, as perceived by both groups of interviewees, the broader Israeli government policy offers even fewer opportunities for social integration. Given the prolonged state of uncertainty faced by this forced migrant community, the study concludes that it is imperative for they will be granted formal legal status, which might facilitate better social integration and inclusion for Eritrean asylum seekers and their children in Tel Aviv or Israel.